About presidents harrystruman
ABOUT THE WHITE HOUSE * PRESIDENTS OUR PRESIDENTS about_presidents_georgewashington 1. George Washington about_presidents_johnadams 2. John Adams about_presidents_thomasjefferson 3. Thomas Jefferson about_presidents_jamesmadison 4. James Madison about_presidents_jamesmonroe 5. James Monroe about_presidents_johnquincyadams 6. John Quincy Adams about_presidents_andrewjackson 7. Andrew Jackson about_presidents_martinvanburen 8. Martin Van Buren about_presidents_williamhenryharrison 9. William Henry Harrison about_presidents_johntyler 10. John Tyler about_presidents_jamespolk 11. James K. Polk about_presidents_zacharytaylor 12. Zachary Taylor about_presidents_millardfillmore 13. Millard Fillmore about_presidents_franklinpierce 14. Franklin Pierce about_presidents_jamesbuchanan 15. James Buchanan about_presidents_abrahamlincoln 16. Abraham Lincoln about_presidents_andrewjohnson 17. Andrew Johnson about_presidents_ulyssessgrant 18. Ulysses S. Grant about_presidents_rutherfordbhayes 19. 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Nixon about_presidents_geraldford 38. Gerald R. Ford about_presidents_jimmycarter 39. James Carter about_presidents_ronaldreagan 40. Ronald Reagan about_presidents_georgehwbush 41. George H. W. Bush about_presidents_williamjclinton 42. William J. Clinton about_presidents_georgewbush 43. George W. Bush administration_president_obama 44. Barack Obama [ of Harry S Truman ] 33. HARRY S. TRUMAN 1945-1953 During his few weeks as Vice President, Harry S Truman scarcely saw President Roosevelt, and received no briefing on the development of the atomic bomb or the unfolding difficulties with Soviet Russia. Suddenly these and a host of other wartime problems became Truman's to solve when, on April 12, 1945, he became President. He told reporters, "I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me." Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, in 1884. He grew up in Independence, and for 12 years prospered as a Missouri farmer. He went to France during World War I as a captain in the Field Artillery. Returning, he married Elizabeth Virginia Wallace, and opened a haberdashery in Kansas City. Active in the Democratic Party, Truman was elected a judge of the Jackson County Court (an administrative position) in 1922. He became a Senator in 1934. During World War II he headed the Senate war investigating committee, checking into waste and corruption and saving perhaps as much as 15 billion dollars. As President, Truman made some of the most crucial decisions in history. Soon after V-E Day, the war against Japan had reached its final stage. An urgent plea to Japan to surrender was rejected. Truman, after consultations with his advisers, ordered atomic bombs dropped on cities devoted to war work. Two were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese surrender quickly followed. In June 1945 Truman witnessed the signing of the charter of the United Nations, hopefully established to preserve peace. Thus far, he had followed his predecessor's policies, but he soon developed his own. He presented to Congress a 21-point program, proposing the expansion of Social Security, a full-employment program, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, and public housing and slum clearance. The program, Truman wrote, "symbolizes for me my assumption of the office of President in my own right." It became known as the Fair Deal. Dangers and crises marked the foreign scene as Truman campaigned successfully in 1948. In foreign affairs he was already providing his most effective leadership. In 1947 as the Soviet Union pressured Turkey and, through guerrillas, threatened to take over Greece, he asked Congress to aid the two countries, enunciating the program that bears his name--the Truman Doctrine. The Marshall Plan, named for his Secretary of State, stimulated spectacular economic recovery in war-torn western Europe. When the Russians blockaded the western sectors of Berlin in 1948, Truman created a massive airlift to supply Berliners until the Russians backed down. Meanwhile, he was negotiating a military alliance to protect Western nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, established in 1949. In June 1950, when the Communist government of North Korea attacked South Korea, Truman conferred promptly with his military advisers. There was, he wrote, "complete, almost unspoken acceptance on the part of everyone that whatever had to be done to meet this aggression had to be done. There was no suggestion from anyone that either the United Nations or the United States could back away from it." A long, discouraging struggle ensued as U.N. forces held a line above the old boundary of South Korea. Truman kept the war a limited one, rather than risk a major conflict with China and perhaps Russia. Deciding not to run again, he retired to Independence; at age 88, he died December 26, 1972, after a stubborn fight for life. ---- For more information about President Truman, please visit Harry S Truman Library and Museum ---- MD5: 13db4444006d48ce61e1e1cce0be75cb Original URL: http://whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/harrystruman/